THE GASSING FIASCO: CAN HICHILEMA TELL US THE TRUTH?
The recent acquittal of former president Edgar Lungu’s political adviser, Dr Chris Zumani Zimba, and three others by the Lusaka High Court confirms Mr Hakainde Hichilema’s dictatorship and abuse of the criminal justice system.
On April 29, 2023, Dr Zimba and his co- accused were taken into custody, and a few days later, harshest charges were prescribed against them. Their evil tormentors had no shame but to lamp them with terrorism charges.
They were kept in custody until December 1, 2023, when Lusaka High Court judge Koreen Mwenda rubbished the charges brought before the court at the insistence of Mr Hichilema’s little evil men.
The court’s verdict and the subsequent release of Dr Zimba and his co-accused exposed the lengths to which Mr Hichilema and his corrupt puppet regime will go to destroy their own citizens’ lives through the abuse of the criminal justice system. Is this part of the persecution of political opponents Mr Hichilema promised during the last official opening of the National Assembly?
Clearly, when it comes to exterminating critical voices and protecting their own political and business interests, Mr Hichilema and his corrupt evil league are people without conscience, empathy, and compassion. They’re cold-hearted people who don’t care about their fellow human beings.
We said it then, and we are saying it now: there was absolutely no need to torture innocent citizens of this country in this manner. This whole exercise was unnecessary, and it was not appropriate for the government to proceed against it’s own citizens in this manner.
Young families were totally grounded to a halt. Deprived of breadwinners and fathers for a period exceeding seven months as Mr Hichilema’s little evil men threw a party!
Right from the inception of this case, it was very clear that the decision to arrest Dr Zimba and the three others was carried out in bad faith with the intent to harm and destroy innocent people and families. A total abuse of the criminal justice system.
As expected, in the final analysis, it was the innocent prosecutors who bore the burden of proving frivolous and vexatious charges. And anyone who cares about truth knows that those young men had nothing to do with any charge brought against them. Their only offence was their allegiance to a group of politicians or individuals, Mr Hichilema and his corrupt puppet regime hate so much.
The gassing case fiasco, which was before the court, demonstrates Mr Hichilema’s appetite for tyranny and total abuse of the criminal justice system.
Sadly, cases such as this one are being used to put pressure on the judiciary to make decisions that are supportive of the regime’s evil decisions and actions, and this tendency, if not checked will have negative effects and erode public confidence in the criminal justice system.
Nonetheless, we applaud judicial officers who are committed to protecting and safeguarding their integrity and dignity as well as protecting public interest.
The evil and indignity that led to the persecution of Dr Zimba and his co-accused must not be allowed to flourish in this country because it will lead to a chaotic, unjust, immoral and inhumane society. This is how countries get destroyed, and we need to stop this cruelty and madness!
That said, we ask a question: with Dr Zimba and his co-accused acquitted in the gassing fiasco, who then was gassing people? Can Mr Hichilema and this regime tell the nation the truth?
Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party